Public Enemy burst onto the hip-hop scene in 1987 with their debut album Yo! Bum Rush the Show. Articulating a militant Black Nationalism over a heavy bass-line and driving rhythms, Public Enemy marked out a new space in the emerging rap genre. They soon attracted attention by their hardline and uncompromising lyrics that sought to bring down the white power system, which had oppressed blacks for so long. Their twin tactics of visibility and militancy soon marked them out as a threat and they were hailed as the "Black Panthers of rap."

The members of Public Enemy are more than just rap musicians. Fronted by Chuck D, self-styled prophet of rage, Public Enemy pronounced themselves as the "Black CNN." Originating from Long Island, Chuck D (Carlton Ridenhour), the son of ex-1960s activists, proclaimed his mission as championing the cause of the African-American underclass. He located himself...